County 

Survey 

Manual 


The  INTERCHURCH 
WORLD  MOVEMENT 
of  NORTH  AMERICA 


County  Survey  Manual 

prepared  especially 
for  those  participating 
in  the  Rural  Survey 


Issued  by 

The  Rural  Survey  Division 
Interchurch  World  Movement 
111  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City 


County  Survey  Manual 


J In  view  of  the  immensity  of  this  task  and  the  necessity  of 
completing  it  within  a reasonable  length  of  time,  we  must 
not  allow  our  attention  to  be  diverted  from  the 
major  purposes  involved.  The  history  of  the  sur-  WHAT 
vey  movement  shows  no  parallel  in  size  or  import-  RURAL 
ance  to  this  undertaking.  Completeness,  thor-  SURVEY 
oughness  and  absolute  accuracy  are  indispensable.  INVOLVES 
In  spite  of  the  great  area  to  be  covered,  each  in- 
dividual community  or  church  is  likely  to  be  a center  of  interest, 
and  the  facts  on  it  are  likely  to  be  subjected  to  minute  inspection. 

Three  processes  are  involved: 


(a)  The  securing  of  aU  necessary  data  bearing  upon 
the  task  of  the  church  in  the  areas  stirveyed. 

(b)  Assembling  this  material,  tabulating  it  and  pre- 
senting it  in  graphic  form. 

(c)  Interpreting  the  material  in  terms  of  a budget  and 
of  a program  of  adjustment  and  promotion. 

The  securing  and  assembling  of  the  material  are  the  functions 
of  the  survey  men  under  the  direction  of  the  state  survey  super- 
visor. The  interpretation  in  the  terms  of  the  budget  and  the 
program  is  primarily  the  work  of  those  forces  and  organizations, 
local,  state  and  national,  whose  interests  are  involved,  and  is  not 
the  responsibility  of  the  survey  men.  The  task  of  the  survey 
men,  therefore,  is  to  secure  for  conference  all  the  facts  necessary 
for  the  formulating  of  budgets  and  programs. 


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11. 


SCOPE  OF 
SURVEY 


Many  topics  of  interest  and  importance  must  be  excluded 
from  this  initial  study.  Some  may  properly  be  made  the 
subjects  of  later  supplementary  studies.  In  pre- 
paring schedules  which  will  be  used,  five  things 
have  been  in  mind: 


(a)  The  discovery  of  those  factors  in  the  community’s 
life  which  condition  religious  work.  We  must 
present  an  accurate  and  sympathetic  picture  of 
the  community  in  which  the  church  is  at  work. 

(b)  To  discover  the  unit  of  territory  and  population 
which  should  be  made  the  basis  of  parish  organiza- 
tion and  development.  This  is  the  least  imder- 
stood  aspect  of  the  present  rural  problem.  The 
effort  must  be  to  discover  what  are  the  actual 
boundaries  of  existing  communities  and  what  the 
relation  of  these  communities  is  to  the  parish 
boundaries. 

(c)  To  locate  and  study  various  other  social  insti- 
tutions whose  work  is  related  to  the  work  of  the 
church. 

(d)  To  minutely  analyze  the  church  as  a working  or- 
ganization. This  is  our  point  of  major  emphasis. 
This  whole  survey  is  concerned  with  the  church  in 
its  relation  to  the  community  life. 

(e)  To  make  clear  the  various  ecclesiastical  relation- 
ships which  must  be  taken  into  account  in  deter- 
mining the  policy  for  any  given  community.  This 
will  take  us  into  the  realm  of  church  extension 
and  development.  This  is  a field  of  vital  im- 
portance. 


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III. 


(a)  All  information  secured  by  the  survey  must  be 

brought  down  to  terms  of  a definite  geographical 
area.  This  is  a survey  of  counties 
and  communities.  We  are  not  seek-  CHARAC- 
ing  information  in  the  large,  but  ^ERISTICS 

. , 4.  . 4.  - OF  METHOD 

prunarily  facts  in  concrete  form 

applicable  to  given  unit  of  territory. 

(b)  In  preparing  the  schedules  we  have  tried  to 
regard  the  structural  integrity  of  community  life. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  surveyors  should  not  ig- 
nore or  under-estimate  any  problem  which  is  vital 
to  community  development. 

(c)  Our  information  must  be  secured  in  measurable 
and  comparable  terms.  It  is  necessary  to  make 
compilations  of  figures  on  various  units  for  various 
purposes.  For  example,  most  denominations  will 
wish  to  assemble  the  material  for  their  own 
work  by  such  ecclesiastical  units  as  prevail  within 
their  respective  denominations,  viz.:  Presbyteries, 
Districts,  Associations,  Classes,  etc.  It  is,  there- 
fore, necessary  to  secure  facts  and  figures  in  such 
a way  that  the  data  of  one  county  can  be  com- 
pared to  or  added  to  the  data  of  another.  For 
this  reason,  you  should  impose  on  all  survey  men 
the  necessity  of  using  accurate  units  of  measure- 
ment accurately.  One  cannot  add  up  “I  think 
so’s”  and  “about’s.” 

(d)  A survey  is  made  to  discover  facts  and  not  to 
prove  theories  or  establish  theses.  All  connected 
with  the  survey  must  be  open-minded  in  their 
work. 


5 


IV. 


e)  We  must  keep  before  us  that  this  survey  is  not 
a still  hunt  of  an  amateur  detective,  but  is  an 
open  undertaking  in  which  we  provide  the  leader- 
ship and  direction,  but  in  which  we  must  have  the 
cooperation  of  local  forces.  All  adjustments  grow- 
ing out  of  this  survey  will  have  to  be  made  by 
local  forces,  and  the  survey,  so  far  as  possible, 
must  proceed  through  them. 


(a)  National  Headquarters.  This  rural  survey  is  part 
of  the  whole  Home  Missions  Survey,  under  the 
leadership  of  Ralph  A.  Diffendorf- 
er,  but,  so  far  as  operation  is 
concerned,  it  will  be  conducted  as  RESULTS 
a unit,  though  in  close  touch  with 
other  aspects  of  the  Home  Missions  Survey.  A 
Rural  Survey  Committee  has  been  formed  to  have 
general  oversight.  The  Secretary  of  the  Rural 
Survey  Committee  of  the  Home  Missions  Council, 
Dr.  Edmund  deS.  Brunner,  has  been  taken  over 
by  the  Inter  church  World  Movement  to  be  Sec- 
retary in  charge  of  the  Rural  Survej'.  To  him 
should  be  addressed  all  general  questions  of 
policy  and  procedure.  Associated  with  him  as 
Staff  Secretary,  in  charge  of  method  of  survey, 
is  Hermann  N.  Morse,  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Home  Missions.  To  him  should  be  addressed 
all  technical  questions  of  survey  procedure,  inter- 
pretation of  blanks,  tabulation,  etc.  The  address 
of  the  National  Headquarters  for  this  survey  is — 
894  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


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V. 


(b)  State  Headquarters.  In  each  state  will  be  a 
state  supervisor,  a State  Survey  Council,  consti- 
tuted as  elsewhere  described  in  this  manual. 

(c)  In  each  county  will  be  a group  of  survey  men,  one 
of  whom  shall  be  designated  as  leader.  A County 
Survey  Council  shall  also  be  formed.  These  county 
men  are  responsible  to  the  state  oflSce  and  make 
their  approach  to  National  Headquarters  through 
the  state  oflBce. 

(a)  To  organize  and  cultivate  the  Coimty  Survey 
Council.  For  particulars  see  VI — (a). 

(b)  Do  the  actual  field  work  of  the 

survey.  Detailed  instructions  are  GENERAL 
given  in  this  pamphlet.  One  mem-  DUTIES 

ber  of  the  county  survey  team 
should  be  designated  as  the  leader. 

He  shall  report  weekly  of  the  progress  of  the 
survey  to  the  state  supervisor  on  blanks  which 
will  be  furnished.  All  inquiries  from  the  county 
men  representing  the  survey  should  be  addressed 
to  the  state  supervisor. 

(c)  To  make  a map  of  the  county.  Detailed  instruc- 
tions for  this  will  be  furnished  later. 

(d)  To  tabulate  the  material  secured  in  the  survey 
and  to  prepare  it  for  the  consideration  of  the 
County  Council,  or  of  other  conferences  which 
may  be  held.  Detailed  instructions  on  this  will 
be  furnished  later. 

(e)  Following  the  completion  of  the  survey,  certain 
conferences  will  be  held  for  the  consideration  of 


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^e)  the  material  and  for  the  preparation  of  budgets 
and  programs  and  the  making  of  necessary  adjust- 
ments. The  county  men  will  naturally  be  called 
upon  to  lead  in  the  discussions  in  these  confer- 
ences relative  to  the  conditions  in  their  county. 

VI.  The  county  workers  will  have  all  expenses  incurred  in  the 
work  paid.  It  is  unfortunate  that  their  time  also  cannot  be 
paid  for,  but  this  would  make  the  cost  of  the  sur- 
INITIAL  prohibitive,  as  there  are  almost  3,000  rural 

STEPS  counties  in  America. 

Expenses  for  travel,  postage,  meals  while  away 
from  home  in  the  interest  of  the  survey,  should 
be  included  in  itemized  accounts  and  submitted  to 
the  state  rural  survey  supervisor.  All  supplies  will  be  furnished 
by  the  state  supervisor. 

(a)  The  County  Survey  Council  must  be  democratically 
organized.  Some  such  plan  as  this  is  suggested. 
One  minister  from  each  denomination,  one  man 
or  woman  from  each  natural  geographic  unit  in 
the  county,  such  as  the  districts  of  the  Sunday 
School  Association  or  other  recognized  divisions. 
The  County  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M C.  A.,  the 
county  agent  of  the  Farm  Bureau  or  some  Chris- 
tian who  is  a member  of  the  committee  might  aiso 
be  ineluded.  The  County  Sunday  School  Associa- 
tion should  have  one  representative  and  possibly 
also  the  Red  Cross  Home  Service  Section.  This 
council  should  advise  with  the  surveyors,  should 
assist  in  assembling  the  program  and  should  be 
responsible  for  the  calling  of  a County  Conference 


S 


^a)  after  the  program  has  been  approved  by  the  State 
Survey  Ck)uncil. 

Towns  may  very  properly  have  a sub-committee  to 
direct  their  local  surveys. 

(b)  The  next  step  is  to  make  certain  preliminary 
studies  applying  to  the  entire  county.  For  par- 
ticulars see  the  schedule  entitled,  “General  Ques- 
tions for  County  Survey.”  It  is  desirable  at  the 
outset  that  full  material  along  these  general  lines 
should  be  assembled  and  that  the  surveyors  should 
get  in  touch  with  county  officials  and  officers  of 
county-wide  organizations  in  order  that  the  sur- 
vey may  proceed  with  the  fullest  cooperation  of 
an  local  forces. 

(c)  It  is  desirable  at  this  stage  of  the  survey  that 
there  should  be  a certain  amount  of  pubUcity 
through  the  local  press  that  the  people  at  large 
through  the  county  may  be  informed  of  what  is  to 
be  undertaken  and  why.  The  purposes  of  the 
Interchurch  World  Movement,  the  scope  of  the 
survey  and  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  material 
should  be  set  forth. 

These  things  having  been  accomphshed,  you  are  then  ready  to 
begin  the  field  work  in  the  study  of  communities  and  churches. 
The  schedule  entitled,  “Survey  of  a Community”  is  for  the  study 
of  each  individual  community  unit.  The  schedule  entitled,  “Sur- 
vey of  a Church,”  is  for  the  study  of  each  individual  church. 
In  the  community  study,  go  to  a number  of  well-informed  men 
in  the  community  representing  different  interests  as  the  farmer, 
store-keeper,  professional  man.  It  is  desirable  that  you  should 
secure  the  opinion  of  a number  of  different  men  on  the  answers 


9 


to  all  the  questions  on  this  schedule  independently,  in  order  that 
3’ou  may  have  some  check  as  to  the  accuracy  of  your  informa- 
tion. Use  blank  sheets  of  paper  freely  for  the  taking  of  notes 
on  all  interesting  points  not  specifically  covered  by  the  ques- 
tions. Also,  keep  a clipping  file.  Much  material  in  reports  of 
societies,  in  news  notes  published  in  the  local  press,  etc.,  will 
throw  light  on  some  of  the  social  and  economic  and  religious  prob- 
lems. 

For  the  survey  of  each  church,  go  first  to  the  minister  of  the 
church  if  he  is  resident  in  the  county.  You  will  secure  the 
major  part  of  your  information  from  him.  Additional  informa- 
tion on  various  points  may  be  secured  from  other  officers  of  the 
church  as  the  treasurer,  Sunday  school  superintendent,  etc. 
You  should  visit  each  church  building  personally  and  secure  the 
information  as  to  building  and  grounds  in  that  way.  So  far  as 
possible,  you  should  secure  a picture  of  each  church  building. 

It  would  be  best  at  the  outset  of  your  survey,  by  consultation 
with  ministers  and  others,  to  locate  so  far  as  possible  all  the 
churches  in  the  county,  and  to  note  their  location  and  denomina- 
tional affiliation  on  the  map.  You  can  generally  borrow  from 
ministers  copies  of  the  year  books  of  the  various  denomina- 
tions, which  will  help  you  to  locate  the  churches  and  assure  your 
overlooking  none  of  them. 

A map  of  the  county  has  been  furnished  you  and  this  you  should 
use  for  record  as  the  work  proceeds.  The  outlines  of  each  com- 
munity and  parish  should  be  clearly  indicated,  aceording  to  the 
instructions  given  you  in  the  schedules;  also,  the  location  of  each 
church  and  the  residence  of  each  minister.  This  material  wiU 
later  be  transcribed  to  a summary  map  according  to  instructions 
to  be  given  later. 


10 


VII.  The  name  of  the  surveyor  should  be  written  on  the 
first  sheet  of  each  schedule  filled.  This  is  for  the  purpose 
of  checking  the  material. 

An  answer  should  be  given  to  every  question  on 
every  schedule.  If  the  question  does  not  apply,  SCHEDULES 
or  if  the  information  is  not  available,  indicate  that  EXPLAINED 
fact.  If  the  question  is  left  blank,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  tell  on  later  examination  of  the  schedules 
whether  this  was  because  the  information  was  not  available 
or  for  some  other  reason. 

Where  figures  are  called  for,  they  should  be  secured  by  actual 
count.  Do  not  substitute  guesses  or  approximations  for  actual 
count,  except  in  the  two  or  three  instances  where  an  estimate  is 
clearly  called  for.  If,  for  any  reason,  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
an  actual  count  and  an  estimate  is  used,  mark  it  so. 

Having  selected  some  center  as  the  one  in  which  to  start,  first 
determine  the  outlines  of  your  community,  according  to  the 
method  on  page  one.  This  information  should  be 
secured  by  inquiry  from  a number  of  different 
people.  Mark  the  outlines  of  the  community  on  COMMUNITY 
your  map  plainly.  The  territory  which  you  have  SURVEY 
thus  indicated  is  the  territory  which  is  to  be 
studied  with  the  use  of  this  schedule.  There  will 
usually  be,  however,  some  territory,  “neutral  zones,”  between  com- 
munity boundaries  and  not  included  in  any  community.  Such 
territory  should  be  arbitrarily  added  to  the  community  to  which 
it  is  most  nearly  related  and  studied  in  connection  with  that 
community.  In  this  case  in  enumerating  the  population,  number 
of  households,  etc.,  indicate  clearly  the  number  within  the  limi- 
tations of  the  community  as  determined  and  the  number  in  the 
neutral  territory.  Be  sure  that  no  territory  is  left  unsurveyed. 


n 


The  questions  on  this  schedule  are  for  the  most  part  clear  in 
their  intent  and  require  no  special  explanation.  General  ques- 
tions involving  judgment  as  those  regarding  leadership,  social 
influences,  social  classes,  etc.,  should  be  answered  with  care.  Use 
blank  sheets  to  give  ample  reasons  for  opinions  expressed. 

The  question,  “What  clearly  defined  neighborhood  groups  are  there 
within  this  community?”  should  be  interpreted  as  referring  to 
any  clearly  distinguishable  group  which  is  smaller  than  the 
community — such  neighborhood  groups  which  center  about  some 
institution  as  the  church,  or  school  or  grange.  The  limits  are  to 
be  determined  by  the  residence  of  the  people  who  participate  in 
that  definite  neighborhood  life. 

“Designation  on  Map”  means  by  what  symbol  or  abbreviation 
has  this  church  been  indicated  on  your  map?  This  is  because 
space  will  hardly  permit  you  to  write  out  in  full 
CHURCH  the  name  and  denomination  of  each  church  on 
SURVEY  the  map. 

“Attached  to  what  other  church  or  churches”  re- 
fers to  the  circuit  relations  of  a church.  That  is, 
with  what  other  church  is  this  church  under  the 
pastorate  of  one  man? 

“How  many  pastors  has  this  church  had  the  last  ten  years?” 
This  question  is  to  secure  information  as  to  the  average  term 
of  pastorate  and  the  proportion  of  time  the  church  has  been 
without  pastoral  service. 

Under  “Equipment  for  social  and  recreational  purposes”  list 
the  various  kinds  of  apparatus  which  the  church  has  for  play 
and  recreation,  whether  in  the  church  building  proper,  in  a 
eommunity  house  or  on  a playground.  Motion  picture  ma- 
chines, stereopticons,  etc.,  should  be  listed. 


12 


Page  two.  Use  this  page  to  draw  a rough  but  approximately 
accurate  floor  plan  of  the  building  in  order  that  we  may  judge  of 
its  adaptability  for  the  carrying  out  of  any  given  type  of 
program.  Indicate  the  scale  in  feet. 

Under  “Finance”  the  first  questions  refer  to  the  general  financial 
system  of  the  church;  whether  the  church  works  on  a careful 
budget  plan;  whether  payments  are  made  weekly,  quarterly  or 
annually;  how  special  benevolent  causes  are  financed,  etc.  In 
the  detailed  analysis  of  the  budget,  do  not  include  the  budgets 
of  auxiliary  organizations  as  the  Sunday  school,  except  in  so 
far  as  those  organizations  contribute  to  the  general  working 
budget  of  the  church. 

Under  “Membership”  it  is  very  important  that  the  information 
called  for  here  should  be  secured  with  the  utmost  care.  Wherever 
possible  the  church  roll  should  be  secured  and  the  total  mem- 
bership and  the  number  of  members  to  be  included  under  each 
of  the  sub-heads  noted  should  be  secured  by  actual  count.  The 
best  way  to  proceed  would  be  to  ask  the  minister  to  read  each 
name  on  the  roU.  As  each  name  is  read  the  surveyor  will  put  a 
mark  in  each  of  the  lines  on  this  page  which  describe  this  par- 
ticular person.  For  example,  the  first  name  read  is  John 
Adams.  John  Adams  is  indicated  as  an  active  member.  A mark 
is  therefore  put  on  the  line  “Net  active  members.”  His  family 
has  not  been  counted  before;  therefore,  a mark  is  put  on  the 
line  “Families,  number  of.”  He  lives  in  the  country  and,  there- 
fore, is  marked  on  the  line  “Families  resident  in  country.”  He  is 
an  adult  male  and,  therefore,  is  marked  on  the  line  “Resident 
males  over  21.”  He  is  a farm  owner  and,  therefore,  is  marked 
on  the  line  “Farm  Owners.”  Each  name  should  be  treated  in  the 
same  manner.  The  total  of  the  three  lines  “Non-resident,”  “Other 
Non-active”  and  “Net  active  members”  should  together  equal 


13 


the  total  of  the  line  “Total  on  present  roll.”  The  totals  repre- 
sented by  the  four  lines  indicating  sex  and  age  should  together 
equal  the  total  of  all  resident  members.  The  totals  on  the  seven 
lines  indicating  occupation  will  give  the  entire  number  of  members 
of  the  church  who  are  gainfully  employed. 

“Gain  in  the  last  fiscal  year.”  Either  the  last  church  year  or  the 
last  calendar  year  should  be  taken,  whichever  is  more  convenient. 
It  is  not  important  which,  but  you  should  be  careful  that  only 
twelve  months  and  not  less  than  twelve  months  are  included 
in  the  count. 

“Meetings.”  No  questions  here  require  specific  explanation.  The 
purpose  of  all  questions  on  evangelistic  services  is  to  attempt 
to  determine  the  value  of  those  services  in  the  life  of  the  church 
and  the  communitj%  not  only  by  the  number  of  reported  converts, 
but  by  the  general  results  secured. 

“The  Parish.”  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  sections  of 
this  schedule  When  you  reach  this  point  take  your  map  and 
mark  on  it  the  residence  of  the  regular  attendants  living  farthest 
from  the  church  on  each  road.  Draw  lines  connecting  these 
points.  You  then  enclose  the  area  actually  served  by  this  church 
as  represented  by  its  membership.  Where  a number  of  churches 
are  located  in  the  same  general  area,  do  this  for  each  church. 
Then  write  along  the  line  of  the  parish  boundary  the  name  of 
the  church  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  confusion.  This  study 
will  determine  the  extent  to  which  numbers  of  churches  are 
serving  the  same  territory  and  the  amount  of  territory  not 
definitely  served  by  any  church. 

The  questions  on  “Sunday  School”  and  “Other  Organizations” 
require  no  special  comment. 


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“Church  Program.”  Under  this  head,  list  and  describe  all  un- 
dertakings of  this  church  other  than  the  holding  of  stated  religious 
services,  the  maintenance  of  the  Sunday  school  and  other  organi- 
zations. If  this  church  has  a definite  program  of  work,  definitely 
adopted,  secure  a copy  of  it. 

In  the  case  of  ministers  serving  more  than  one  church  in 
this  community,  the  questions  which  refer  to  him  personally 
need  only  be  answered  once.  For  each  church,  however,  certain 
questions  should  be  answered  as  “Distance  this  church  from  min- 
ister’s residence,”  “Chief  problems  of  church  here,”  “What  does 
he  consider  the  future  of  this  field?”  “Describe  fully  any  at- 
tempts which  have  been  made  to  federate  or  combine  churches,” 
“What  abandoned  churches  are  there  in  the  community.” 

In  the  case  of  ministers  serving  more  than  one  church  care  should 
be  taken  that  you  learn  not  only  the  amount  contributed  by  each 
church  toward  the  minister’s  salary,  but  also  the  total  amount 
which  he  receives  from  all  sources. 

If  any  other  points  regarding  these  schedules  are  not  clear, 
communicate  with  your  state  supervisor. 


15 


No.  73.  I.  10.  June  1919 


No.  73.  I.  10.  June  1919 


